Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Plum Berry Crisp plus tips on freezing berries!

You have no idea how good it feels to finally be back here, sharing a recipe with you. My life has been all sorts of crazy lately. Soon after I got my camera back from the repair place (it was gone nearly 20 days!!), we had company staying with us and then my sweet puppy Otis was bitten by a rattle snake.

Since then, it has been non stop Otis care, doing everything we can to get him well. At first his prognosis was not good at all - we were all prepared for the worst. But this crazy dog has too much life in him, the rattle snake wasn’t enough to bring him down. He’s home now, and expected to make a full recovery. It’s so incredible to be able to write out those words, we were so sure he wasn’t going to make it. We should probably rename him miracle!

In all the hullabaloo, the month of July passed me by in a blur. Only today have I had the time to get in the kitchen and bake up something new. I wanted to use what was in season, so I picked up a bunch of fruit from my local orchard. Blackberries, blueberries and plums galore.

This crisp is a celebration of August, with its late summer fruit, and a dash of cinnamon in the topping to hint at fall. It’s sweet, and a little tart, it may be my new favorite crisp recipe, the berry and plum combination is incredibly tasty.

Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in upper third.Toss together all filling ingredients in a 2-quart shallow baking dish and bake 10 minutes.Meanwhile, blend together all topping ingredients in a bowl with your fingertips until butter is evenly distributed and mixture is crumbly.Stir fruit filling, then sprinkle oat mixture over it and bake until topping is crisp and golden and fruit is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

I have tons of berries left, so I thought I’d share my tips for freezing them fresh. I meant to take pictures but, well, I forgot!

1. wash and dry the berries throughly

2. lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet

3. freeze for about 2 hours

4. remove from freezer, place in zip lock bags

5. put them back in the freezer

6. enjoy a taste of summer even in the dead of winter!

Freezing them on the cookie sheet is the most important part, that way you don’t have big clumps of berries in your freezer. You can remove the amount you want to use without having to defrost the whole bag!

I'm a fan of crumbles but I usually make them with frozen berries in the winter. However, since I have a glut of peaches on hand, I might just try this with my freshly picked blackberries! And so glad that Otis made such a fabulous recovery! Hooray!

this looks amazing! I've been looking for a good crisp recipe - I like them so much than cobblers or pies. Oats on top let me trick myself into thinking they're a lot healthier, even though there's still a bunch of butter and sugar in there. hahah

And that's great about your dog! My cat actually is named Miracle for a similar reason

That looks like a wonderful recipe and thank you for your freezing tip!

We have a puppy and also live in a high risk rattle snake area. You may not know this but they have a new vaccination for rattle snake bites (it's a series of shots)which we opted to do despite the data being inconclusive as to the effectiveness. You are so fortunate that Otis is doing well and will make a full recovery!

I'm SO glad to hear your puppy is going to make a full recovery!! AND being without your camera for twenty days... ugh, no wonder July flashed before your eyes.

This recipe looks divine, I can't wait to try it out! Thanks so much for sharing and I look forward to learning new recipes from your gorgeous blog. Sending your pup plenty of hugs and get well soon wishes!

sometimes i dread coming to your site just because i know you'll have baked something delicious that i want to eat but i won't have time to go and make it myself. this crisp is the perfect example. yum yum yum, get in my tummy please?

The dish looks delicious. Want to try it one of these days for my family in our gatherings. You might also want to visit www.gourmandia.fr and www.everythinglemon.com for more exciting recipes that you'll surely love. Enjoy!!

In a large bowl, whisk together the ateş ve su buz devri brown sugar, melted butter, flour and salt. Add in the eggs, maple syrup This dish is really amazing to eat.As there has been mixed many awesome ingredients kafa topu so it should be delicious for everyone.I would like to make this dish and will eat with my family.